When Kay’s bunch arrived it suddenly seemed as if the one hundred seventy five room palace on twelve thousand acres would not be nearly big enough. His family had migrated to South Texas in the nineteenth century and found it agreeably inhospitable. Berserkers enjoy a good challenge. So they founded an organization to clean up the mess, taking on rowdy itinerants who heartily embraced a get-it-done, no-rules philosophy and called it the Texas Rangers. Were it not for berserkers it seems unlikely that the frontier mix of Comanche, desperados, and javelina could have been subdued so relatively quickly and by so few.

Chaos Caelian, named such by his maternal grandmother as was her privilege in berserker society, was affectionately known as Kay. It was the nickname bestowed upon him by his teammate Rammel Hawking soon after they’d met. Ram had thought a knight named Kay – like the foster brother of King Arthur from Arthurian legend – was amusing. So Chaos became Sir Kay and it stuck. Even his own parents eventually began calling him Kay.

Yes. Everybody knew the near giant knight as Kay except for his three older sisters who refused to give up calling him Bubba, never letting him forget for a minute that he was the “baby” of the family. The four youngest Caelian children were close in age, only a year apart, and in familial ties. There was a much older brother, but he and their parents almost seemed to comprise a second family. The three preschool girls started out calling him “brother”, but the nickname quickly degenerated into Bubba and would not go away.

Their grandmother, sometimes called Evil Gran by those she had named, gave the girls similar hardships to bear. Having inherited the “sight” from her own grandmother, Evil Gran claimed she knew three girls were coming and set out to name them after the Norns; the three keepers of time according to Norse myth. Hence, they were named in order of linear time – past, present, and future: Urda, Verdandia, and Skulda. In a triumph of sibling camaraderie and conspiracy over custom, their names had morphed into something more suitable before they entered kindergarten. Urda became known as “Urz”, Verdandia as “Dandie” and Skulda did a triple twist into “Squoozie” which, odd as it was, seemed like a custom fit.

Elora had once heard Kay say that opening the door to his boyhood home was like going through the wardrobe to the land of “Nornia”.

The entire family resembled the popular perception of Vikings: tall, fair haired, fair skinned, with blue eyes, an abundance of athletic ability, and an indomitable desire to know where to plunder the best jewelry. Fortunately the family had accumulated multigenerational wealth in land, cattle, and oil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century so the quest for jewelry did not require going a’viking as it was known in the old days. Kay’s sisters were content with the occasional plunder of Gump’s, Tiffany, and Cartier.

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She gave me 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, but, I’m still proud enough of this review to post it because she took SO much time on the analysis and went so deep into her personal reactions. As an author, you can’t help but be moved when someone is emotional engaged by the characters of an otherworld that originated in the strangeness of imaginescape. Thanks Jenna. Not just for this review, but for promoting the genre of Paranormal Romance. – Victoria

This book was a RIDE! I simply cannot say enough great things about Victoria Danann and the genius that is My Familiar Stranger. Danann’s writing style is uniquely honest and captivates her audience with both plot and characters in a well-developed and thoughtful world (or “worlds” as it seems).
The Love Nest:
Elora Liaken is the perfect meshing of kick-butt-ness and vulnerability. Literally dropping into an alternative dimension after watching her family be assassinated, Elora is saved by Storm, the de facto leader of the elite B-Team in the paranormal military unit, “Black Swan.” All Elora remembers of Storm is his delicious smell and comforting words while drifting in and out of consciousness. Well, that and another voice saying, “We should kill it.”
After healing, Elora distinguishes the latter from B-Team’s resident womanizer, Ram, who immediately recognizes Elora as his elven mate. Showing more brains than brawn, he doesn’t try to force his culture on Elora, knowing that humans rarely mate for life. Ram is crude at best while competing for Elora’s affection – but he is unaware that the competition is with not just one other man, but instead, two! The last in this triad being the ancient, overtly sexy, and repentant vampire, Istvan Baka.
These relationships seem to be straight forward at first, but progress interestingly enough and actually? One of my initial complaints is now my most favorite piece of Danann’s puzzle. I really did want Elora to choose each one of the men depending on the page I was on, to the point of being extremely frustrated that said gentleman was taking time away from my current fav, but, in what I’ve come to know as classic Danann style, this was exactly the point. As a reader, you are physically but moreover, emotionally pulled in several directions – just like Elora.
There is not one clear stand out mate until a choice is made and you’re like WHAT?! HIM?! Wait…but what about…?! These relationships develop organically, taking ample time before jumping into any sexual relationship. I enjoyed the flirting so much! Most writers do not give enough attention to the simple act of flirting. *sigh*
**SPOILER** The major qualm I had with this trio of suitors was that Baka wasn’t really ever in the running for me. Even though he was sexy as all get out, he was never a true contender for Elora’s heart. So this “trio” is really just a “duo” with a super sexy friend involved. **END SPOILER**
Our Heroine: The premise of a woman not needing protection from her man also brightened the read. I loved how competent Elora was in all aspects without being an unobtainable heroine or perceived as perfect – well from anyone but her men!
The Awesome: Danann’s world building is quite astounding. She has a knack for detail and can write such vivid imagery that I could recount to you with reasonable accuracy what rooms and buildings looked and felt like. I could not however tell you just what all three of our male characters looked like…well except some inappropriate details. 😉
This book had a slow first few chapters but once I understood Danann’s style and relaxed into her flow I enjoyed every page turn. I will be waiting ever-so-patiently (HA!) for the next installment, The Witch’s Dream to be released in Fall 2012.

Today My Familiar Stranger made it to ebooks #41 in the entirety of the genre of ROMANCE – not just Paranormal Romance. It’s impossible to say how gratifying that is.

The first person to read My Familiar Stranger was my daughter, Kelly. The next day after I gave it to her she called and simply said, “I want more.” My first thought was that I had accidentally sent her a chapter, or maybe three chapters, instead of the whole manuscript which is 111,378 words as opposed to the typical 80,000 words for paranormal romance novels.

As it turned out, she read through the day and through the night without stopping. As an avid reader of fiction, she said I should be very flattered that this is only the second book – in her life – that she couldn’t put down. Naturally I thought she was being supportive and encouraging. Now that reviews are starting to trickle in, and others say the same thing – that they couldn’t put it down – I’m beginning to believe that she wasn’t just being kind.

FIVE STARS. My Familiar Stranger was a wonderfully engrossing paranormal romance with just a dash of science fiction that grabbed me from page one and didn’t let go!
Ms. Danann absolutely knows how to get a series going. My Familiar Stranger created a captivating new world with so many possibilities. With elves, beserkers, fairies, vampires and who knows what else running around a society parallel to our own there is so much potential! The world building was awesome. Through Danann’s vivid descriptions I felt like I could actually see The Order’s lavish headquarters and the creepy but whimsical Romanian stronghold.

I don’t want to give too much away, but watching the relationships build between Elora and the B-Team was magical. This is no “wham-bam, I’m instantly in love with you” book. The relationships progress over time which makes it that much more heartbreaking when you realize that Elora will have to choose between honoring a debt, true love, or true lust. But fear not, Elora gets her happily ever after just like in her favorite fairy..um….er….I mean elf tales.

My Familiar Stranger quickly turned into the kind of book that left my husband and son eating pizza for dinner. Who has time to cook when you could be reading a great book instead?